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The Significance of the Social for Child Well-Being.

Authors :
Fattore, Tobia
Mason, Jan
Source :
Children & Society; Jul2017, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p276-289, 14p
Publication Year :
2017

Abstract

This article responds to the theme of this special edition by drawing on the findings of our research on child well-being, where children linked a holistic understanding of well-being with an emphasis on the socially situated nature of their experiences of well-being. We briefly outline our epistemological approach and methodology, involving a multistage qualitative study with children 8-15 years, about their understandings and experiences of well-being. We discuss the liberal predispositions in well-being research and the ways in which these predispositions exclude discussion of the significance of the social for well-being. We posit an explanation for the disparity between our findings on the significance of the social for child well-being, and the way these topics are marginalised in much research on well-being. In the remainder of the paper we outline the centrality of affective solidarity for children's well-being, how generation structures adult-child relations and frames the ways in which children's experiences of well-being can be facilitated by symmetrical, or jeopardised by asymmetrical, adult-child relations. We conclude by discussing how these conceptions of well-being suggest metaphors of the social which challenge liberal conceptualisations of well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
09510605
Volume :
31
Issue :
4
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Children & Society
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
123458700
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12205